Sale-a-bration Blog Hop

Morning All!
and welcome to my stop on the Sale-a-bration blog hop. Hopefully you've just landed from Kara's fab blog post - i'm loving the colours she's used! Owing to technical difficulties (i.e. a flat camera battery!) I currently only have two cards to post this morning. So here's my first for this morning, a simple thank you card featuring the 'punch bunch' stamp set.

You'd be forgiven for thinking it seems similar to something you've seen before - I've CASEd my convention swap as I was struggling to find my mojo after my card class yesterday. The colours I've used were suggested by the fabby colour coach - I picked so saffron and it suggested a combination of wild wasabi and rose red.

and here's my second card, again a case of a previous design, this time using the sweet summer SAB set - the yummy polka dot paper in the background is from the Woodland Walk designer paper series, and the ribbon is coloured with a wild wasabi marker.

Well that's all from me for this minute I'm afraid, unfortunately the lovely Debbi is unwell so can't participate, so the next stop on this particular tour is Val - keep following the links and you should end up back here.

If you'd like to join the other three hops then they start with Theresa, Keren and Kirsteen.

enjoy the inspiration!

I {heart} hearts class

Happy Saturday morning everyone!
and thank heavens it's the weekend, which means a little lie in for yours truly, followed by frantic preparations for this afternoon's class. Speaking of which, here's what the lovely ladies will be making this afternoon

The set features the I {heart} hearts stamp set, which is perfect for so many occasions - including of course Valentines day. I know we're a few weeks early, but it already seems a distant memory given that I'm currently designing Easter projects as crafty people have to constantly be an occasion ahead to give time to send things by snail mail! So here are the projects in a bit closer detail, first we have the easel fold with hearts stamped in riding hood red ink and the easel prop is made from lots of hearts punched out of riding hood red cardstock using the heart to heart punch. The 'amour' greeting is from the artistic etchings stamp set.

Secondly we'll be making a card featuring the heart treat cups filled with red Jelly Belly beans (assuming there are any left by the time we get to class, as I keep munching them!!). The crumb cake background is inked with the en francais background stamp and the rounded tab uses the 'love' sentiment from tiny tags. the 'be mine' border around the heart is from the sweetheart stamp set.

The third card is a simple C6 fold, using the broadsheet alphabet used to spell 'Love'. Then lots of punched hearts, from love letter DSP and a mini envelope made from the petal card punch. I've gone a bit mad with the ribbon ruffling this month - but I love the effect that the satin ribbon gives!

And finally a little origami treat box with a belly band, made from crumb cake cardstock with a little liner box in basic black. the belly band is decorated with punched hearts and tags, and the sides of the box use the scalloped heart from the sweetheart stamp set along with the 'amour' greeting from artistic etchings.

The instructions and a class kit are now available to purchase here if you'd like to have a go at making this set. The next class is on Saturday 19th February if you fancy joining us - details are here.

Sale-a-bration blog hop, Sunday 23rd January

Hey folks!

no crafty pictures to share this morning, but just a quick post to let you know that on Sunday morning I'm joining in the Stampin' Up! Sale-a-bration blog hop. There are 4 seperate hops running with lots of inspirational projects to help you with ideas and inspiration on making the most of your FREE Sale-a-bration sets. 

 

I'll be using 'Sweet Summer' in my sample, at the end of my post on Sunday you'll find a link to the lovely Debbi's blog, follow that and continue to follow them and it'll take you in a ring back to my blog, via lots of yummy projects! I'll also post the links to the start of the other hops.

I'll be back in the morning to show you the valentine's class which i'm running tomorrow afternoon, and then I'll hopefully see you all on Sunday morning!

Pay it Forward

I popped by the lovely AuroraDawn's blog the other day and found this:

I promise something handmade to the FIRST 5 people who leave a comment here. However, to be eligible, you must repost this status, offering something handmade to 5 other people. The rules are that it must be handmade (or homemade) by you and it must be sent to your 5 people some time in 2011. Ready, set, GO!

I loved the idea of sending a little handmade something to someone else, for no reason, so I added a comment.
So, here’s the challenge. I will send something handmade to the first five people who leave a comment to this post. Then it will be up to you to pay it forward to five other people this year. Use your blog to find your payees and then of course let us see what you made!

that'll teach me for playing with settings!!

Morning all!
Well, I had a bit of a whoopsy yesterday, when I decided that my blog needed a 'new look' for the new year. so in I launched, downloading kits, customising images, changing bits of code - and then nothing worked!!! I'm slowly restoring settings (the wonderful backup I did prior to embarking on the 'quick overhaul' didn't restore everything - aagghh!!) and hopefully things will be tickety-boo by the weekend.

In the meantime, I've just about finished faffing with the finishing touches on this month's class, so here's a sneek peak.

For those of you unable to join us this weekend, instructions and class kits/bundles will be available to buy here on Sunday.

Please excuse the mess!

a supposedly 'simple' blog makeover has gone somewhat awry, and i'm left with a bit of a mess!! hopefully I'll get everything restored back to a reasonable state today.

January Design Team Entries

Hey folks

thought I'd better pop by as promised this week and share the remainder of this month's design team entries as I'd completely neglected to do so - i cant believe it's almost Friday already, and my to do list is still as long as it was on Monday!!

The first card is for the colour challenge that I set this month - melon mambo, daffodil delight, pumpkin pie and chocolate chip, I needed a combo to kick-start my mojo as I was kind of stuck in a Christmas rut still! This card features the 'just believe' stamp set, which I have to say is becoming a firm favourite of mine, and I've combined it with the 'framed' set from waltzingmouse stamps. It's a very simple card, no ribbon buttons brads or pearls in sight but I love it! 

The second is also a colour combination entry, which is currently winging its way to Darren's mum as it's her birthday early next week. A slightly more fussy design featuring flowers from the 'growing green' stamp set, heat embossed using white powder on coloured cardstock and then cut out and layered around the frame, which is a stamp from waltzingmouse stamps. The sentiment is from curly cute, which i've masked to make 2 lines instead of one. Sadly the polka dot melon mambo ribbon which i've ruffled is now retired, and my stash is running low!! I'm hoping for some new ribbon colours in the new mini catalogue in April!!

the next entry was using the following sketch for inspiration

I fancied playing with a swinging z-fold base card for this one, and as the labels 4 nesties were still on my desk, this is what I came up with, using the sunny garden DSP and co-ordinating cottage garden stamp set

and here's a view of the inside, the colours are daffodil delight, pear pizzazz, peach parfait and pure poppy.

Finally Karin set us the challenge of making a scrapbook page. I have to admit I'm not the strongest scrapper, so I stretched the challenge slightly and made a tri-shutter album, which will soon be on its way to my friend Clare who's recently had a baby boy, for her to pop some piccies of his first month in. The papers are from the nursery suite collection, and the colours used are pear pizzazz, baja breeze, bashful blue and marina mist. I've also used the tag from the saleabration punch bunch set, the baby tees wheel and tiny tags on the inside.

 

 

That's all I have for now, I'm just putting the finishing touches to my valentines class, which hopefully I'll be able to photograph in daylight on Saturday, then I'll be back to share some sneak peeks early next week! Have a great weekend



The 12th Day of Christmas.....

Well, that's it folks, Christmas is well and truly over. My tree and decorations are down and packed away until December, and I'm gradually finding homes for things in my craft room for all my lovely new stash that I received for Christmas and my birthday. At this rate I'm going to have to have a major sale to get rid of some stash that I no longer use!!

Being as it's the last day of Christmas, I thought I'd share some of the cards, bags and boxes that I didn't get time to post in the run-up, and I've resolved this year to make some throughout the year so that I don't end up with everything being so last minute this year (we'll see how long that resolution lasts!!).

Here are some of the gift packages that I made this year, the first is for my Secret Santa over on ILWS, a tote in Soft Suede with matching card, and the lovely goodies that it contained

And then some gift boxes containing yummy belgian truffles from Truffles of Stamford,  made using the 'back to basics' template from Papertrey Ink.

And finally the gift packaging for my downline's gifts, the larger tote contains some chocolates and the smaller one a colour coach.

I'm currently putting together some samples for my January Valentine class on the 22nd, some sneak peeks will be coming in the next few days. There are still a few places left, so if you'd like to join us, drop me an email to confirm your place.

See you soon!

Linz

x

SALE-A-BRATE The New Year

Hey folks
I'm back, albeit a couple of days later than originally intended due to a stinking cold and blogger going on strike on me and refusing to post those that I'd scheduled. I hope you all had a fabby Christmas and wish you all a Happy New Year!

Of course the start of the new year means a new promotion from Stampin' Up! in the form of sale-a-bration, which effectively means EXTRA FREE STAMPS. You can earn freebies in one of three ways:

1. Spend £45 (product sales before shipping and handling) and earn one free Sale-A-Bration set of your choice. For every £45 you spend you can choose one set.

2. Host a workshop of at least £300 (product sales before shipping and handling), and earn one free Sale-A-Bration set in addition to the generous hostess benefits.

3. Join Stampin’ Up! as a demonstrator during Sale-A-Bration and choose a free stamp set (excluding hostess sets) from the Idea Book & Catalogue (valued up to £44.95).

The stamp sets which you can choose from are shown below

And here are a couple of samples using the bliss and sweet summer stamp sets, which I made for the ILWS design team challenges this month.

I've got a few more samples to share over the next couple of days - and some exciting news to announce later in the week, so stay posted!!

Linz
x